The Continuing Adventures of Catweazle

catweazle

A lovely day today in the West so after a feeling of impending dread all week I was looking forward to todays Duathlon. Kudos to the two clubs Predator and Tri Lakes for organising these series of races, 10 euros for 6 races is a bargain in this day and age.

There was a big turn out today and there was some tasty entrants at the sharp end of things, Grealish, Marrey and Geraghty were all here and the last series winner, a young lad with a Craughwell AC singlet who was a stunning runner was also here.

Only the one nemesis here, The Gaeilgeoir (Ronanmac) and I wasnt expecting to be anywhere close to him, without the inconvenience of a swim he would be up at the front of this. However surprise surprise I managed to pick up a few more potential rivals before the end of the race

I want expecting much from my run, but I was gunning for a serious attempt at a strong cycle its always been my worst discipline so I was eager to see if the work I had put in over the winter would reap some reward.

Off we went and I set out at 4 minute pace, the group got strung out very quickly, The Gaeilgeoir wasnt too far ahead of me at this early stage so he was showing some discipline on his run in the early stages. One of the Tri Lakes guys was maybe twenty metres ahead of me, I was a bit put off by this as I am usually a little faster than him but I was blowing hard anyways. Their was a big bunch behind me running at around 4.30 pace so I decided I would just try and keep ahead of them. Ks were 4.01/4.22/4.18/4.21

Just before the turnaround the guy from Craughwell and some other guy had forged ahead of Grealish and Geraghty was another 20 metres behind Mairtin. Marrey and the Gaeilgeoir and a few others were behind them. One lad made a break from the group and went by me, I got to the Transition area ahead of the main bunch and then proceeded to have a disaster of a transition, I always seem to have trouble getting my helmet clasp in place. I then start to panic and try and clasp it and then put it over my head....which I should know doesnt work as I have tried and failed many times in doing this. Lost over a minute trying to get this on, I need to calm down a bit when attempting this. Got out to hear our Club director commenting on how slow my transition was with a big grin on his face

Anyways here we go, the slow transition had me just behind "The Carpetbagger" who was a better biker than me so it would be a good test straight away. The first thing I noticed was that I flew off out of the traps, straight down on the bars and overtook a big pile of the main bunch that came out ahead of me in transition. The second thing I noticed was that it was hurting just as much as any other time I was on the bike however I seemed to be able to live with the pain better than I normally do. After another minute or two I overtook one of my club mates, now this got me excited he had always a better bike than me. He hung on behind me for a few minutes but I began to draw away and lost him on the long straights.

On I went and there was clear road in front of me, I eventually saw a guy ahead took me a long time to reel him in but I got him around half way, got around another lad shortly after that. My cadence wasnt great I was pushing too big a gear all the way through it but I didnt care too much as I was passing people, there was a Tri Lakes suit ahead of me, which I hoped was the guy that had been ahead of me on the run, if I caught him after giving him a 2 minute start it would be a huge boost, got him near the end of the bike and I was delighted, he usually was a 2 minute better biker than me last year.

Transition 2 came and the Tri Lakes guy flew by me before I had even my shoes off, I realised then he must have used pedal cages, makes sense as I didnt think I could be that much quicker on the bike than him. I am going to provisionally put him in as "The Banker" at least for this series

The 2nd run wasnt very exciting early on I was making no time back on him and there was no-one too close behind me, the Brick was terrible which I was expecting as I had pushed so hard on the bike so it was short baby steps for a good while. Grealish came by in front with Geraghty and Marrey behind him, Ronanmac was in 6th place (which he held) so he is going great.

At the turnaround, the guy that had passed me on the run was flying behind me and the club mate was close as well, this got my ass in gear again as I was coasting and the legs had freed up a bit so I was able to go quicker on the run home. I was gradually catching one of the club mates in front another guy who would be quicker than me last year, I got passed by one guy who was behind me for a while and I ran out of time to catch the last club mate. 4.53/4.47/4.26/4.19

Heart Rate Average = 142
Max Heart Rate = 173

All in all I am happy enough, the cycle gave me great encouragement, thats the first time I have never been passed out on the bike, if they give me splits later I will post them but there was no timing chips in these races and my Garmin wasnt set up right on multisport. On another note, I got fed up of my spiking heart rate on the Garmin so I got the Polar strap that Mloc recommended, worked a treat and the leather strap is great as they don't slip down at all

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Well done CW, it shows the hard work on the bike over Winter is paying off.

kennyb3

Great stuff CW - just goes to show you get back what you put in. All you need now is a few bricks to sort out that first km off the bike.

Any link to that HRM?

ronanmac

Fair play again, Catweazle, nice to see you in Caherlistrane. I notice your average heart rate is substantially lower than mine for that race, 142 as opposed to 168. Am new to this heart rate craic but it seems a big difference. What gives, you reckon?

catweazle

ronanmac wrote: »

Fair play again, Catweazle, nice to see you in Caherlistrane. I notice your average heart rate is substantially lower than mine for that race, 142 as opposed to 168. Am new to this heart rate craic but it seems a big difference. What gives, you reckon?

Probably means that I am a lazy bastard and didn't give it 100%! I wasn't really near anyone on the 2nd run and didn't push myself accordingly. The two lomg transitions would have brought the average down as well.I wouldnt worry too much, Macanris average HR seems to be always in the 160's as well and it certainly doesnt effect his running times

You need to go hell for leather over a 5k distance and see what your max heart rate is. I can only get mine up to 193 I think, whereas Macanris can get well over 200. So maybe you can get it over 200 as well

Wear it to bed somenight and you will get your resting heart rate, you can then input that and your max into the watch and it will give you your 5 training zones. Although I know shotguns has revised his zones slightly from the watch.

Just realised I didnt turn off my garmin for a few minutes after, so don't read anything into that HR average I had, it probably was similar to yours after all

shotgunmcos

Good work at the duathlon CW, you are certainly putting the work in and its paying off.

littlebug

I've been living in a bubble these past few weeks. If I'd known there was a duathlon in Caherlistrane on sunday I'd have gone over to cheer you and your arch nemesis on.

catweazle

littlebug wrote: »

I've been living in a bubble these past few weeks. If I'd known there was a duathlon in Caherlistrane on sunday I'd have gone over to cheer you and your arch nemesis on.

Ronanmac has a picture of us up on his log so you will recognize us for the next one, bring the dog and you can run up Knockma after

El Director

Excellent stuff CW, the bike work is really paying off and as that second run progressed you were getting faster. You must have finished fairly high up the order too. I will be doing the Ballinrobe one on the 5th of March I hope so I might see you there.

catweazle

El Director wrote: »

Excellent stuff CW, the bike work is really paying off and as that second run progressed you were getting faster. You must have finished fairly high up the order too. I will be doing the Ballinrobe one on the 5th of March I hope so I might see you there.

Afraid not big man, will only be back from skiing that day. That might be a good one I saw Padraig Marrey handing out flyers for it the last day. I might do this weekends one in Clarinbridge, our club manager is on to race it me as I have done my stint as a marshal already

pgibbo

Fair play on Sunday CW. Looks like I missed a cracking event.

Macanri

Well done in the duathlon CW. A good bike and a good run off it too. The training has paid off there. And it only early days, so I'ld say you'll be flying it over the summer.

catweazle wrote: »

Probably means that I am a lazy bastard and didn't give it 100%! I wasn't really near anyone on the 2nd run and didn't push myself accordingly. The two lomg transitions would have brought the average down as well.I wouldnt worry too much, Macanris average HR seems to be always in the 160's as well and it certainly doesnt effect his running times

You need to go hell for leather over a 5k distance and see what your max heart rate is. I can only get mine up to 193 I think, whereas Macanris can get well over 200. So maybe you can get it over 200 as well

Wear it to bed somenight and you will get your resting heart rate, you can then input that and your max into the watch and it will give you your 5 training zones. Although I know shotguns has revised his zones slightly from the watch.

Just realised I didnt turn off my garmin for a few minutes after, so don't read anything into that HR average I had, it probably was similar to yours after all

Re the HR, My HR avg for easy runs is normally just below 160, for tempo sessions and intervals it would be in the high 170s. For short races 2 to 5 miles it would be nid to high 180s; the max HR in these races frequently caps at 200. 201 is the highest I have recorded, the 220s I put down to jumps/gliches in the HRM reading! I hope so anyway. My marathon pace is looking like around 172 to 176.

catweazle

Macanri wrote: »

My marathon pace is looking like around 172 to 176.

For the entire Marathon :eek:

If my HR hits high 160's I knows I am living on borrowed time

ronanmac

catweazle wrote: »

Probably means that I am a lazy bastard and didn't give it 100%! I wasn't really near anyone on the 2nd run and didn't push myself accordingly. The two lomg transitions would have brought the average down as well.I wouldnt worry too much, Macanris average HR seems to be always in the 160's as well and it certainly doesnt effect his running times

You need to go hell for leather over a 5k distance and see what your max heart rate is. I can only get mine up to 193 I think, whereas Macanris can get well over 200. So maybe you can get it over 200 as well

Wear it to bed somenight and you will get your resting heart rate, you can then input that and your max into the watch and it will give you your 5 training zones. Although I know shotguns has revised his zones slightly from the watch.

Just realised I didnt turn off my garmin for a few minutes after, so don't read anything into that HR average I had, it probably was similar to yours after all

Yeah, I'll have to keep an eye on this HR mullarkey. I notice that for the Tuam 8k, my average was 178. I haven't figured out my max yet, must suffer a test first, but RHR is 47 (RHR test much easier than max test )

catweazle

I am getting all my swimming sessions in these days but now what I knew would happen now that I have the bike off the turbo for sundays duathlon it has stayed in the back seat of the car since. Tomorrow I need to get on my bike again!

AM Monday swim: An absolute ballbuster with about 550m of kickboard in the plan, with one session being 8 x 50. These used to be done with fins and they were a doddle but without the fins I am close to heart failure: Total 2400m

Monday Lunch Run: A very slow and stiff run, more some type of recovery run than anything else. Feeling the effects of this morning and the duathlon yesterday on the legs

Tuesday: Nothing

AM Wednesday Swim: I am starting to hold the times prescribed in the plan so this is encouraging, swim fitness is coming Total:2300m

Wednesday Lunch Run: With the day off yesterday due to work, I thought I would try and go at a decent pace today, so 7.4k at 4.38 pace. I found this tough and am hoping the swim this morning had an effect, there is no way I will hold another 8.6k at this stage to get under 75 minutes in Craughwell otherwise. I am relaxed enough about Craughwell anyways, better to be running well in July than March

interested

'close to heart failure' - sounds about right

Just think though,
how many times do you push your HR to MAX or within 10% of MAX when running or biking and how many times do you do it when swimming ?

Macanri

catweazle wrote: »

For the entire Marathon :eek:

If my HR hits high 160's I knows I am living on borrowed time

My Av HR for the Waterford Half was 176. So maybe it won't be this high for it all. Prob more like 172 or so for most of it, which is in and around what my avg HR was for the PMP runs. Once I start running in the mid 180s I know I'm on borrowed time.

Good to see your swimming going well too. Your in a good training place right now, eh.

catweazle

Thursday Lunchtime Run: After a tough run yesterday, I took it easy today. Seemed easier today HR nice and low so pushed the pace up to 5.00 min pace. Stayed at this pace comfortably for the 7.4 local route. I finally realised I had some kind of shuffle function on the iphone, when you shook it it changed song which was driving me nuts for months. So after finally googling my problem I got to listen to the full playlist of BT's "These Hopeful Machines" played properly for once. Great album for running. 8k

Thursday Evening Turbo: Supposed to do an hour but only could fit in 30 minutes, did 5 minutes easy 5 minutes hard by 3

Morning Swim I see contains another 8 x 50 kick....damn you Interested :rolleyes:

catweazle

Friday AM: Morning swim, main set consisted of 8 x 50 kickboard followed by 8 x 50 catch up off 1.10. The 8 x 100 off 2.15 after was a pleasure after the first two drills. Again I held the times comfortably. I will retest myself on 50 and 100m pbs as well as the standard 400 after I have finished this plan. Total 2000m

Friday Lunchtime: This was supposed to be an interval session but it was pouring rain and I knew my legs weren't up for it. I need to go harder i think on tuesday and thursdays which are swim days off. So struggled to a 7.4k x 5.15 loop. Total 8k

Saturday AM: For once I was up bright and early and had all the jobs done by 10. My plan was a long brick today. This went haywire with work issues which kept me till 1. After a cross group email from the club about members not attending the duathlons I said I better go out tomorrow and race again. However I am very concerned about my lack of long runs in relation to Craughwell next month so I had to use one of my * banker jobs and hoovered all the upstairs carpets. So only an hour turbo but a 20k run in after down the prom done at 5.27 pace. Found the run ok, HR started going up near the end but it was high 130s for most of it so I was happy enough. Bike 30k Run 20k

Going out for dinner with Mrs C tonight as last weeks was cancelled and meeting a few friends after so I am not going to cause trouble by taking it easy and mentioning racing tomorrow, so tomorrows race will be a slog but I wont be expecting anything from it

*a job that will give me the free pass for any training I want to do, the danger here is that it will be added to the weekend rotation list so it cant be produced often

catweazle

The day awoke to a slight hangover....not too bad in fairness and my mood improved instantly when I opened the curtains. After hearing a strong wind rattling the letterbox all morning I was pleased that it was at least a nice day out albeit breezy.

I am guessing there was about 30ish people racing today. None of the big names from last week but plenty of high level guys. Said hello to Ronanmac and his mate Setanta and got the gear ready.

Run 1
As soon as we headed out I wasn't feeling the love, legs felt heavy, it was a lovely run through a narrow path through a forest so it was very spread out and I was towards the back. I was running within myself at this stage and I saw the club mate who I had gone by in the bike last week was up ahead. I picked it up a little and then stayed at his pace for a while behind him and then he spotted me and called me up for a chat - he was taking it easy and was going to try and hammer the bike and 2nd run which suited me fine so we slowed and were chatting away at a comfortable enough pace, I was delighted to hear he is doing The Humbert again this year so that will be good competition for me. He was over thirty minutes ahead of me last year.
Splits 4.47/4.45/4.51/4.50 AHR=151

Got to the transition area in decent enough shape and then he just left me for dead in transition, I couldn't believe how quick he was compared to me. I am really going to have to work on them this year. Transition 1.34

Bike
The bike I found much harder than last week, more technical with a few speedbumps and a trip through Clarinbridge with a nasty headwind. This didnt start as well as last week, I was immediately overtaken by one of the Tri Lakes Guys, I tried to hang on but I could never get back to him. I started to pass a few myself at this stage and caught a good few over the bike course, I nearly went into the back of a jeep going through Clarinbridge who stopped suddenly at a zebra crossing.

Going down the first hill i realised I wasnt in the big ring so I picked it up a bit then. Was chasing for ages trying to catch a Predator singlet in front of me but it wasn't the club mate when I went past. Unlike last week there was plenty of changing gears as I didnt seem to have the power to drive though the rolling hills. Got a few more near the end and then a guy I had just overtaken got by me again just coming into transition. I was very impressed with his bunny hopping of the speed ramps. I am happy enough definitely not as fast as last week but it was over 30k an hour at least.
Bike 16k 31.30 = 30.3k average AHR=146

Transition 2 = 1.04 (lost a few places again here)

Run 2
The inevitable brick again here but the four lads directly in front of me were looking much worse for wear than I was. Went by one straight away and then put a bit of a spurt in to get past the 2nd guy before we hit the trails. I then caught up to the other two guys and with no-one else in sight after them I slowed and had a chat with them. One of them......the guy who went by me just coming in off the bike was a walking advert for Amphibian King so I confidently inquired was he on boards. He was indeed Amphkingwest so I had a chat with him for a few minutes about Galway 70.3 which he was doing. After a minute or two i pushed on, nearly home now and turning a corner I saw a new guy coming up fast behind me. I had to push the pace up for the last 500 metres to keep him away and I rolled in at around 1.10.49 for the race. Splits 4.57/4.53/4.50/4.35 AHR=155

I have no idea about the positions this week but with no uber bikers there this week Peadar Harvey ran the legs off everyone again

Thats it for a few weeks as regards duathlons, with the skiing next saturday I was hoping for a very heavy training week but it doesnt look like thats going to happen. I will be on the road a good bit for work next week

Izoard

catweazle wrote: »

*a job that will give me the free pass for any training I want to do, the danger here is that it will be added to the weekend rotation list so it cant be produced often

No explanation needed for those of us in the know, but a cracking definition all the same...:)

Great numbers so far, chapeau!

Triptych

Hi Catweazle,

Another great blog this year. It looks like you're doing some serious training. I'll be expecting you to cruise up the Windy Gap in the big wheel with all this turbo work:D

I was wondering if you had a link to the swim sets you are doing. I'm currently reduced to doing a bit of swimming and figure i might as well try and put a bit of structure on it. (although as I'm not allowed kick at the moment i'll have an excuse to adapt them to avoid the horrors of the kick sets!) anyway, it would be much appreciated.

thanks in advance.

catweazle

Triptych wrote: »

Hi Catweazle,

Another great blog this year. It looks like you're doing some serious training. I'll be expecting you to cruise up the Windy Gap in the big wheel with all this turbo work:D

I was wondering if you had a link to the swim sets you are doing. I'm currently reduced to doing a bit of swimming and figure i might as well try and put a bit of structure on it. (although as I'm not allowed kick at the moment i'll have an excuse to adapt them to avoid the horrors of the kick sets!) anyway, it would be much appreciated.

thanks in advance.

Triptych wrote: »

Hi Catweazle,

Another great blog this year. It looks like you're doing some serious training. I'll be expecting you to cruise up the Windy Gap in the big wheel with all this turbo work:D

I was wondering if you had a link to the swim sets you are doing. I'm currently reduced to doing a bit of swimming and figure i might as well try and put a bit of structure on it. (although as I'm not allowed kick at the moment i'll have an excuse to adapt them to avoid the horrors of the kick sets!) anyway, it would be much appreciated.

thanks in advance.

Thanks Triptych, I don't think I will ever cruise up that beast unless I am in a car. Heres the link there is an excel sheet at the bottom with the plans

http://www.3dtri.com/index.php?q=node/2252

Ps Hows your back, hoping it heals soon seeing as I have you in as the Chiropracter, have you set a date yet

Triptych

Lol, good detective work. I was wondering would you twig. Thanks for the link.

The visits to chiropractor have been replaced by visits to the surgeon so it looks at the moment that the only chance you'll get to crush me will possibly be in a September sprint.

Just after giving the first of those swim sets a go in the NUIG pool. I might be a bit ahead of myself at the moment as I found it tough. Still nice to swim in a 25 meter pool with a deep end for a chance. Nice scenery also:D

The date has been set for June next year. Building up a good base first!

catweazle

June next year, fantastic, I should have talked to you for tips before I proposed myself

I wouldn't worry too much about the plan, I only started to hold the prescribed times after going from the 1500m sessions to the 2300m so it will take you a while to build the swim fitness up. Yes I found the 25m pool harder myself when I first started the extra push from the wall in the old pool in the 100m sets were badly missed

Hopefully the surgery will sort it long term for you as you seemed to have the back issues for years

ronanmac

catweazle wrote: »

Transition 1.34

Transition 2 = 1.04 (lost a few places again here)

You could rake loads of time off by getting through transition quicker when your bigger races come around?

DustyBin

ronanmac wrote: »

You could rake loads of time off by getting through transition quicker when your bigger races come around?

Them ham sambos take a fair bit of chewing all the same, and sure he wouldn't want to scald himself on the tea either

sconhome

catweazle wrote: »

a walking advert for

I know I may have upset you with the female comment but Ouch!! it was the second "run" leg

catweazle

Monday AM: Morning swim, wasn't too bad, plenty of pullbouy in this session so got through it comfortably 2400m

Monday Lunch: Legs were tired from yesterday so nice and slow really just a recovery run 8k

Working down the country on tuesday and Wednesday so nothing done

Thursday AM: Morning swim, this was one of my more disappointing sessions. A key endurance session. I held the 8 x 50 off 1 minute warm up but it wasn't too comfortable. The main set was 4 x 400 off 8.25 so came in at 8.20/8.25/8.40/8.50. So I couldn't stick the pace, the pace or stroke rate didnt seem to go down but i think my stroke was becoming more ragged as I went through the sets. Plenty of work to do 2400m

Thursday Lunch: The local route keeping at around 4.50 pace 8k

I am hoping to get put for one last lsr tomorrow before I go on holidays, we will see if I can justify the time off work for it.

catweazle

Well the snowboarding is over and I can safely say it was one of the most punishing, soul destroying weeks I have ever had. Straight off i am scared of heights so I was wetting myself on the various gondolas and chair lists. 2 days into it and I question my romantic notions of not doing skiing till Mrs C was with me, the skiing looked a lot easier on the body. By wednesday I was taking painkillers just to get through the day. However towards the end of the week things started to come together and I started to get the hang of it. Great fun when you get going on it, but the late drinking nights and early mornings are a killer.

With a few bottles of Austrian courage down me on the last day I tackled a narrow red slope that was too hard for me and rather than plummet down a large drop I chose the safer option of crashing into a snow wall and messed up my back. I dont think its anything more serious than bruising but I will leave the swimming for another day or two.

Monday Lunch: Was meant to be an 8k run but I turned back after 2 1/2 as my back was at me and I was struggling and dripping with sweat so 5k at 6 min pace